Sixth-Inning Heroics Spark Fisher To Wins
The St. John Fisher College softball team rallied in the sixth inning in both of its games against University of Pittsburgh-Bradford to earn the doubleheader-sweep over the Panthers on Tuesday.
Fisher’s Krista Robarge smacked a three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning to lift the Cardinals to a 5-3 win in the opener. In the nightcap, Fisher scored five in the sixth, including a grand slam from Kelly Jones, to earn the 7-2 win.
With the two wins, Fisher improves to 20-6 on the year. It is the 14th straight year the Cardinals have won 20 or more games in a season. Fisher returns to action this weekend with Empire 8 Conference doubleheaders at Ithaca and Utica Colleges.
Game One: Fisher 5, Pitt-Bradford 3
Fisher trailed 3-2 going into the sixth. The Cardinals started the inning with a single from Kayla Goodberlet and had runners on second and third with no outs after senior Jamie Harmon reached on a throwing error.
The Panthers seemed poised to escape the jam after striking out the next two batters, but sophomore Krista Robarge hit her third home run in the last six days.
Fisher jumped out to a 1-0 lead after Jennifer Vanek tripled and scored on an RBI-single from Megan Zoerb. The Panthers tied the game at 1-1, but Goodberlet gave Fisher the lead back with a solo homer in the third.
Danielle Leone earned the win. The sophomore went seven innings and recorded her ninth win of the season.
Game Two: Fisher 7, Pitt-Bradford 2
Fisher took the lead on an RBI-single from freshman Jessica D’Angelo in the bottom of the sixth. Two batters later, Kelly Jones, who was mired in a 1-for-21 slump, snapped out of it a big way, ripping the first pitch she saw over the fence in left-center for her first career grand slam.
D’Angelo went 3-for-3 on the day with a pair of doubles, while Vanek, Robarge, Sarah Fordyce and Jennifer Martin each had a base with a run scored. Sarah Stefanon struck out seven and gave seven hits in the win.